A Group Of Friends
by Sea and Chaos
Summary: A small thank you for 150 reviews on The Little Emerald. The short tale of how Emerald and his band of friends came together.


**AN: Hey... It's truly been a while, hasn't it? I've honestly lost my muse, but I promise not to abandon this story! This is a small one-shot, as thanks for 150 reviews on The Little Emerald! 150! Thank you all for you support, and if you're new here, hello! Well, I suppose we better get on with the show.**

 **I own nothing regarding the properties of these franchises.**

 **Giada Draven, out!**

Little Emerald was happy. He had friends! Of course, Colin and little Dennis were amazing, but they were only two children. While before he knew he was lucky to have them, and he still knows that, he wished that he had more. He could see himself with a small group, no more than seven, all hanging out at the pizzeria and him telling them all that he was human, not a machine. As he was distracted by his thoughts, he was jarred when he heard a small whimper coming from the corner that he usually stood in when the Creevey brothers were not there.

When Emerald approached the small child, he found that the girl ( _my age_ his mind whispered) was crying. "What's wrong?"

The girl flinched, her brown curls swaying with her movement. "Go away…" she whispered, curling in on herself even more, if that was possible.

Emerald sat next to her, not saying a word more. It took a while, but she finally stopped sniffling and looked at him. "Why are you here? Everyone always leaves me because I know too much, and I have a funny name." She looked like she was half expecting to be rejected just for saying that.

Emerald cocked his head to the side. "I think it's good to know things. And it would be mean of me to make fun of your name."

She smiled. "I'm Hermione."

She stuck out her hand, giggling when Emerald mock bowed and pressed the back of her hand to his snout. "Emerald, m'lady." The two descended into giggles, though Emerald would hide whenever a parent came too close. When Hermione asked why he hid, he told her, "I don't trust adults, so I hide from them. I've been hurt too many times to trust them." His voice was icy, so unlike the norm for the now eight year old.

Hermione nodded, and even helped him hide the next time one of the workers walked past. The two had become fast friends, and could tell that their friendship would last ages.

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The newly formed quartet, with Emerald being the obvious yet reluctant leader, found two small boys huddled together at a small table, splitting a single piece of pizza glancing nervously around the room. Emerald motioned for his friends to play without him, saying, "I have to take care of something real quick." He snuck his way towards them, but stopped as they kept glancing about and trying not to eat too fast. Their faces were gaunt, their cheekbones prominent in their skull-like faces.

He popped into the kitchen, the few cooks not glancing his way as he grabbed a few drinks and half of a pizza. When he got back, to two were looking in one direction, so Emerald popped over silently and placed the food on the table along with a small note, before popping away again. The sounds of surprise and delight when they read the note made Emerald smile as he went back to playing with Dennis as Colin and Hermione talked.

The two boys eventually (after a week of coming in and being gifted with food) came up to the small group. The one with light brown, almost blonde hair was the first to speak. "Th-thank you. You're the f-first person to give u-us food willingly. I'm Malcolm, and this is Steven." The other boy had hair dark enough to be blue in certain lights, and sad blue eyes that seemed to have seen all the world's horrors.

As they began to integrate into the group, Emerald heard a small shout from across the pizzeria. When he went to investigate, he found a young girl with purple ribbons in her black hair was being backed into a corner by some of the older kids. When he appeared behind the group, the small girl's eyes widened as she looked at him, causing the bullies to look at him and scramble in all different directions. "Are you okay?" he gently asked the girl when they were finally alone (or as alone as you can get in a crowded pizzeria).

She nodded quickly, looking unsure as to if she should be grateful or afraid. "I'm Emerald. Do you want to meet my friends?"

She took his hand when he held it out to her. "Zuzena," she whispered before they met up with the group. "My name is Zuzena."

Emerald smiled. "That's a really pretty name." She smiled back, before approaching Hermione with more confidence than she had previously.


End file.
